2024 (10) TMI 403
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....orted through the Air Cargo Complex (Import) Delhi and filed Bill of Entry No. 5233199 dated 16.02.2018 and found that the goods were under-valued and seized them. After retrieving the values of the same goods imported by the same party from the Customs Electronic Data Interchange [EDI], SIIB found that the respondent had imported identical/similar goods at much higher prices. It investigated the matter further, recorded statements and conducted a market survey. The claim of the appellant was that the goods imported in this Bill of Entry were unpopular brands and of lower versions than the goods imported by it at much higher prices before and therefore, the prices of goods imported in this Bill of Entry were much lower. 4. Shri Mayank Chachra, the proprietor of the importer firm submitted letters dated 27.3.2018 & 28.3.2018 requesting for early release of his shipment without being issued a Show Cause Notice or being granted a personal hearing. Accordingly, the Joint Commissioner adjudicated the matter. He compared the brand and model numbers of the goods imported in this Bill of Entry dated 16.2.2018 and the brands and model numbers of the goods imported before. He also examined ....
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....al duty short paid on account of undervaluation under section 28(4) and impose penalties. The goods imported in these Bills of Entry included the goods imported in Bill of Entry dated 16.2.2018 (which attained finality with the judgment of the Supreme Court) and also some other goods. 9. The proposals in this SCN were confirmed by the Principal Commissioner in the impugned order the operative part of which is as follows: "(i) I invoke the extended period of limitation in terms of provisions of section 28 (4) of the Customs Act, 1962 for willful misstatement, suppression of facts & collusion in deliberate attempt to deprive the department of legitimate revenue by presenting false invoice as originals and suppressing the true and correct material information from the department in violation of the section 14, section 17 and section 46 of the Customs Act, 1962 against M/s Global Technology & Research. (ii) I reject the transaction value of all the goods as detailed in Table - E above declared by the importer on the basis of false invoices in respect of goods imported by them amounting to Rs. 71,65,650/- (Rupees Seventy One Lakh Sixty Five Thousand Six Hundred Fifty only), under R....
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....& Research under section 114AA of the Customs Act, 1962 for the act of mis-declaration of transaction value, suppression of brand & model number in the Bills of Entry. (ix) I refrain from imposing penalty as per the provisions of Regulation 18 read with Regulation 22 of the Customs Broker Licensing Regulations, 2013 upon Shri Sanjay Kumar Singhal for reasons mentioned in Para 60 & 61 above. 10. Learned counsel for the appellant, made the following submissions. a) The appellant regularly imports camera stands and camera stabilizers from Guilin Shishen Information Technology Co. Ltd., China. b) In February 2018, a consignment was intercepted and its declared value was rejected and differential duty was demanded and penalties were imposed by the Joint Commissioner which, on their appeal were set aside by the Commissioner (Appeals). On Revenue's appeal, this Tribunal by Final Order dated 29.9.2022, restored the order of the Joint Commissioner. The appellant's civil appeal assailing the Tribunal's order was dismissed by the Supreme Court on 15 March 2024. c) Following up, seven Bills of Entry filed by the appellant during January and February 2018 were taken out, investigated a....
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.... Thus, it is a case of declaration of drastically reduced value of the goods. The previous imports were of similar or even higher quantities in some cases. e) The appellant failed to justify the drastically reduced price of the impugned goods. Claims of 'low version goods', 'goods imported for demo and promotional purpose', and production of 'a letter dated 16.01.2018 from the supplier' long after the goods were seized on 21.02.2018 are only afterthoughts. In absence of reliable documentary or digital evidence (particularly the We chat which was supposedly received by the Respondents on 17th/18th January 2018) to support such claims, and in the face of much higher value of appellant's own contemporaneous imports and availability of Zhiyunbrand goods at much higher value at e-commerce websites, this is a case of gross undervaluation of goods. 12. We have considered the submissions on both sides and perused the records. The question to be answered in this appeal are: "Was the Commissioner correct in rejecting the declared transaction value under Rule 12 and re-determining it under Rules 4& 5 and confirming the demand of differential duty with interest and penalty in respect of t....
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....ble B of the impugned order) Camera stand (3 Axis stabiliser -unpopular brand) 100 55 356400 107468 385 2483250 748799 641330 Invoice GRT-2912 dated 4.12.2017 Bill of Entry No. 5213953 dated 15.2.2018 Features of the model compared in Tables A & C of the impugned order) Camera stand (3 Axis stabiliser -Crane 2- unpopular brand) 182 55 782037 242275 385 1362814 1120539 631009 Invoice GRT-2912 dated 4.12.2017 Dual handle (unpopular brand, part of camera stand) 100 12 87077 12101 50 161250 48623 36521 PI/5917/ZH dated 5.11.2017 Bill of Entry No. 5214459 dated 15.2.2018 (Features of the model compared in Table C of the impugned order) Dual handle A (part of camera stand) 100 12 87077 26976 50 322500 97246 70269 PI/5917/ZH dated 5.11.2017 Dual handle B (part of camera stand) 100 12 87077 26976 50 322500 97246 70269 PI/5917/ZH dated 5.11.2017 15. The goods imported in these seven Bills of Entry which are not covered by the earlier Final order of this Tribunal are as Follows. Table 2: Goods not covered by the earlier Final Order of this Tribunal Goods Quantity Declared ....